PHOTO: In this still image of an Instagram reel, Christosphere, the formerlly-two-pound rock that Shirtzenpantz co-owner Owen Gail is kicking every day until it becomes spherical, is weighed on the 188th day of the project. (Shirtzenpantz via Instagram)

One transplanted Jew’s quest to make clothing resale more fun turned into an online phenomenon and a growing business here in Portland.

Owen Gail, raised in Wilsonville, came to Portland following his studies at Brandeis University. He was already selling used clothing online but wanted to open a retail outlet. He and his brother, Ethan, wanted a name that sounded a “little Yiddishy,” Gail said. They eventually settled on Shirtzenpantz.

“We came up with a couple different spellings, and we were trying to decide if it should be Shirtzenpantz or Skirtzenpantz, because we have both men and women’s clothing, but Shirtzenpantz just had more of a ring to it,” Gail said. “I think the spelling and the weirdness of the name, it’s intriguing and it’s representative of the weird stuff that goes on at our store.”

A mobile of three renditions of Sir Shirtzenpantz, the store’s mascot, rotates above the entrance to their premises in the Hillsdale neighborhood of Southwest Portland. Customers can compose a poem and recite it to Gail to receive a percentage discount – the percentage varies based on how good the poem is.

It sounds like fun and games – and it is – but it’s also a conscious effort by Gail to address what he identified as a gap in Portland’s clothing resale market.

“The prices were high, and the vibes weren’t really there,” he said of his visits to other resale outlets in the area. “So, we try to make a really good experience for people but also have affordable prices.”

Gail’s brother has since graduated from college himself and joined up as a business partner, specializing in content ideas for the shop’s social media marketing.

“His superpower is idea generation, and then I will often execute the ideas,” Gail said.

The most famous of these has been Christosphere, which began life as a two-pound rock. Gail began posting daily videos about kicking Christosphere along streets, sidewalks and walking paths, vowing to continue until the large, jagged stone was a perfect sphere. The quest for spherical nirvana is more than 180 days old now. Gail estimates he’s gone through at least six pairs of shoes; Christosphere has transformed into a fairly smooth ball, and a recent video from the series has more than three million views on Instagram.

“I want to get to at least day 200,” Gail said. “Then we can have a big day 200 party for him, and then maybe let the people who come to that vote on if I should keep kicking him or not.”

This has translated to more than 300,000 Instagram followers, selection by voters as The Oregonian’s Best Portland Area Thrift Store of 2025 (just two months after opening) and an expansion to a second location in the St. Johns neighborhood of North Portland – evidence of more than just a fun marketing plan.

“It turned out really well,” Gail said. “A lot of that is due to our social media success, but I think mostly it’s the repeat customers that have come in. They’ve found good deals and a good selection of organized stuff, and they keep coming back.”

Both Shirtzenpantz locations are open from 11 am – 8 pm daily. Find Shirtzenpantz – and the ongoing journey of Christosphere – on Instagram at @shirtzenpantz.